Freedom House: Western Balkans still Between Democracy and Autocratic Systems

Elections in Serbia (BetaPhoto/Dragan Gojic)

In its last report the Freedom House has placed all Western Balkan states in the category of "hybrid regimes," between a democracy and an autocratic system, while most have backslid in terms of the rule of law last year.

Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia ranked lower than before in terms of democratic rule, but Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia fared better. Croatia's ranking is the same, and Slovenia's has worsened, but these are the only former Yugoslav republics that have not been described as "hybrid regimes."

As for the democratic score in the Western Balkans, Albania dropped from 3,82 to 3,75, and Montenegro from 3,86 to 3,82. Kosovo progressed continuously for five consecutive years, but its democratic score also dropped from 3,18 to 3.14.

After ten years of decline or stagnation, Bosnia and Herzegovina reported a rise from 3,32 to 3,36. North Macedonia did, too, from 3,75 to 3,82. The Freedom House also said in the report that Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who benefited from Hungarian investments in Slovenian media, elevated verbal attacks on journalists to a new level.